Wyeth Memorial Endowment
Auction for the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Andrew
November 8 – 29, 2010
Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946)
Portrait of Andrew Wyeth, 1969
Oil on canvas
Private collection
Adelson Galleries will host an auction of museum quality art works in support of the Farnsworth Art Museum’s campaign for the Andrew Wyeth Memorial Endowment. The works to be sold have been generously donated by artists, collectors, and philanthropists with an interest in sustaining the mission of the Farnsworth. The auction preview, to be held online and in the gallery, will begin November 8th and culminate in a special evening celebrating the life and artistic legacy of Andrew Wyeth on Monday, November 29th. The celebratory event is open to invited guests, and interested parties should contact the gallery at (212) 439-6800 for more information.
The campaign aims to raise $12 million, the income from which will fund the maintenance and operation of four of the Farnsworth Museum’s properties—the Olson House in Cushing, Maine, and the Wyeth Center, Wyeth Study Center, and Wyeth Research Center in Rockland—as well as supporting the museum’s various exhibitions and educational programs on the work of N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth.
The art of the Wyeths figures prominently in the Farnsworth Art Museum’s mission to celebrate Maine’s role in American Art. In fact, the Farnsworth’s involvement with the art of the Wyeths pre-dates the museum’s opening in 1948: in 1944 the nascent museum’s director, Robert Peabody Bellows, acquired seven works by then twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Wyeth for the future collection. The museum began acquiring works by both N.C. and Jamie in 1963, and all told, now owns more than sixty works by members of the Wyeth family.
With the formation of the Andrew Wyeth Memorial Endowment, the museum greatly enhances its ability to fulfill its mission, and renews its commitment to the study and presentation of the work of N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth and their inexorable connection to the state of Maine.